1. Field
Embodiments described herein relate generally to a semiconductor device manufacturing method.
2. Background Art
In a semiconductor device manufacturing process, a substrate is etched with a pattern by dry etching, such as reactive ion etching (RIE). To achieve higher processing speed and higher degree of integration of the semiconductor device, rapid advances are being made in fine patterning, and micromachining in a groove (space pattern) having a small opening width (space width) is needed.
The etching rate of reactive ion etching decreases at the bottom of the groove having such a small opening width. In particular, a metal compound film of an aluminum-based metal or the like, which has a low vapor pressure, is difficult to process, and the etching rate of reactive ion etching of such a film is markedly low.
Therefore, a micro-loading phenomenon can occur in which the etching rate differs between the metal compound film disposed on the bottom of a groove having a large opening width and the metal compound film disposed on the bottom of a groove having a small opening width.